


Don't Scare Me Like This Again

by Adventures_in_Writing



Category: Red vs. Blue
Genre: M/M, Tuckington - Freeform, brotp chucker
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-11-04
Updated: 2015-11-04
Packaged: 2018-04-30 00:29:34
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,976
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5143643
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Adventures_in_Writing/pseuds/Adventures_in_Writing
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Although he had taken Tucker’s wound into account during his calculations for every single possible outcome of this stupid fight, Church hadn’t realised quite how large his margin of error was on Tucker’s skill with the sword. He had assumed that the teal soldier would have, you know, practiced or something.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Don't Scare Me Like This Again

**Author's Note:**

  * For [armadil_Lo](https://archiveofourown.org/users/armadil_Lo/gifts).



> Prompt received on [ my Tumblr](http://an-adventure-in-writing.tumblr.com/): When Tucker got stabbed in Season 12, Church was focused on running the helmet-cam and didn’t worry too much because Tucker wasn’t making a big deal about it. But then when they’ve caught out Felix and Church starts to run the healing unit and focuses on the wound and Tucker collapses, he realises how serious it is and actually freaks out a bit (A LOT) for his friend. But even after he knows Tucker’s gonna be fine, he sticks around in Tucker’s body for a few days “to keep him company” aka to linger over and worry about his friend in that annoying asshole way of caring that Church does. And at one point he witnesses a bit of a Tuckington moment when Wash comes and visits Tucker and then Church pops up afterwards like for caring, he’s such a douche. So there’s probably at least like five little parts in there if you include when Tucker is stabbed, Church deciding to stick around, a Tuckington moment that can be as ‘just-implied’ or 'full-on-shippy’ as you please but either way Church is a dick about it, nightmare, and Church going back to Carolina.

* * *

 

When the blade of Felix’s knife slipped through the armour and Tucker had grunted in pain and dropped to his knee, Church had assumed that his friend was playing it up. Felix was a dramatic guy and adding a little extra flare to make Tucker’s injury seem more serious was the best way to get Felix to think he had won and it had worked like a fucking charm.

He was gone and back in practically an instant but an instant was long enough for things to go from relatively fine — all things considered — to goddamn nightmare.

Carolina had insisted that Tucker take the healing unit when they’d gone through the plan, saying that if anyone was going to need it, it would be him. At the time, Church had argued that Carolina should keep it to heal her leg as best as possible, but she had refused, helping Tucker to install the hardware.

It ended up being a good thing that he’d taken the unit.

Although he had taken Tucker’s wound into account during his calculations for every single possible outcome of this stupid, practically doomed fight, Church hadn’t realised quite how large his margin of error was on Tucker’s skill with the sword. He had assumed that the teal soldier would have, you know, practiced or something. He also hadn’t taken into account the fact that Tucker was very good at hiding shit from people.

As Church monitored the amount of blood seeping out of the deep wound and administered pain medication for Tucker, he was glad that Carolina had passed the healing unit on.

“You can’t fucking die on me, asshole,” Church said, realising that the flow of blood was too fast for the healing unit to stop on its own. As Doctor Grey shoved through the group surrounding Tucker, Church retreated back into the AI slot in Tucker’s armour, focusing on running the healing unit at full capacity to support Doctor Grey’s work. Church heard Doctor Grey’s concerned voice call out to Tucker and he began to run probabilities on the chances of Tucker’s survival.

Church didn’t like the look of the numbers.

Things had been touch and go for a while — a _long_ while — but eventually Tucker had stabilised. Doctor Grey had excitedly announced that Tucker was going to be fine, though he would have a pretty neat scar to compliment the one he already had on his abdomen. He couldn’t admit it, but Church breathed a sigh of relief along with everyone else when he’d heard the news. Doctor Grey had warned Church and the others that it might take a few days for Tucker to wake up and come to full consciousness but his vitals looked good and steady and the worst was over for now.

That didn’t stop Church from keeping an eye on him though.

Carolina had once asked Church if he wanted to return to her armour, but he had declined, saying that even though Doctor Grey had done a good job, Tucker could probably use the assistance of the healing unit to get better faster. Carolina smiled at Church in a way he wasn’t terribly certain of, like she knew something he didn’t, but she didn’t bring it up again.

“Let me know when or if you want to come back. We’re here for you too, Church.”

“Thanks.”

*****

Tucker had his fair share of visitors while he was unconscious in the medical bay bed. Palomo and Caboose tended to stop by most often, telling Tucker random, boring stories about their day: what they’d done at training, what they had for lunch or how many cars Jensen had crashed that day. Sometimes they’d talk to Church too but the AI mostly kept to himself. He wasn’t terribly surprised when Donut stopped by with a bouquet of flowers, though Church had no idea where he had found them, and Sarge had said it was a shame that Tucker didn’t need the revolutionary cybernetic surgery that he had performed on Simmons. Even Grif and Simmons had stopped by a few times as well. In fact, Church couldn’t think of anyone in the whole camp that had not dropped in to see how Captain Tucker was doing. Tucker had visitors so frequently that Church had eventually stopped bothering to come out to see them. It was tiring having the same goddamn conversations over and over: how was Tucker doing? When did he think Tucker would wake up? Wasn’t Church bored in here on his own all the time? Had Tucker woken up yet at all, even for a minute or two?

It was early in the morning, moments after visiting hours had started, when the curtain around Tucker’s bed was gently brushed aside. Church had ignored it expecting it to be Caboose; the Blue soldier spent most of his free time here when he wasn’t with his team. Things stayed eerily quiet for a long time which was odd. Caboose would usually immediately launch into what he was hoping would be available for breakfast and what fun activities he had planned for his team today. Church was about to flicker into existence to ask Caboose just what he was up to, when he heard a voice very much unlike Caboose’s speak.

“Wake up.”

There was a moment’s pause, as though Washington was waiting for some kind of reply.

“For the love of God, stop sleeping naked.”

The conversation didn’t really work when Tucker was both clothed and unconscious and Washington sighed heavily, resting his head in his hands.

“Please, wake up soon, Tucker.”

As soon as Wash left, Church appeared as his usual little hologram on Tucker’s pillow. He looked down at his unconscious friend curiously.

“The fuck was that about?”

*****

_He had failed. Felix had been right. Not everyone makes it back._

_Carolina, the best freelancer in the squad, the only fighter he had seen that was on par with Tex was no match for Locus. His incredible skill with a gun coupled with his armour enhancement that made him invisible had proved to be too much for them all. Had Wash and Carolina been able to team up, had they been able to take on Locus and Felix together, they might have stood a chance. The mercenaries had done their homework. They’d studied their opponents perfectly to know when, where and how to strike and they’d learned not to let any of them work together._

_After taking out the freelancers, the Reds and Blue’s were child’s play. They didn’t stand a chance.  
 Tucker watched as, one by one, Felix and his soldier picked them off. Lopez was the first to be taken out; a well aimed shot had taken his head and Felix had made sure to throw a well-placed grenade to ensure he wouldn’t be coming back. Simmons had taken a bullet right through the chest plate trying to shove Grif out of the firing line of one of Felix’s soldiers. Grif had managed to fatally wound the soldier who’d shot Simmons before getting caught in the explosion of a sticky grenade. In his grief, Donut was an easy target and the rage that consumed Sarge at seeing his men lifeless on the ground had meant that his thinking was more irrational than usual; it wasn’t long before he lay there just as lifelessly as the rest of his team._

_The blood curdling scream of Doctor Grey made Tucker whirl around to face the sound, his stomach lurching as one of the soldiers shot her at point-blank range. As Locus came into view, dragging a body along behind him, Caboose was shot in the back, a strangled shout escaping him as he collapsed to the ground, calling out for Church. As Locus walked to Caboose’s body, he dropped whom it was he had been dragging and Tucker’s blood ran cold._

_“No! Wash!”_

_He stepped forward and right into the knife that Felix had taken out, the blade burying itself in his stomach right to the hilt._

The sound of Tucker screaming startled Church into action. He had mostly taken himself offline for a little while to rest. Constantly worrying over his friend and running the probabilities over again and again definitely weren’t helping him much, though right now he wished he’d been online. He would have noticed the nightmare earlier.

Tucker thrashed about wildly, trying to fight off enemies only he could see.

“Tucker!” Church shouted once his hologram had materialised. He glitched a little; the sudden screams of his friend sending him into a panic. It was one of the few times Church wished he had a body so he could shake Tucker awake or at least try to hold him still.

Tucker didn’t respond to his name and Church cast a worried glance at the dressing that covered a considerable expanse of his abdomen. The stitches were still quite new and Tucker could very easily tear them with how he was tossing and turning.

“Tucker!”

“Wash!” Tucker shouted as his eyes opened with a start.

He didn’t know where he was: it was dark and the room wasn’t all that familiar to him in the dim light provided by the moon. His heart raced and his body screamed; his abdomen a mix of both searing agony and throbbing pain. Tucker groaned as his body uncurled, trying to clear the horrible images of his bloodstained teammates from his mind.

“It’s okay, you’re dreaming,” Church said, surprisingly gentle.

“Church?” Tucker croaked, his voice a little raw from his screams.

“Yeah, it’s me. You’re okay.”

“But everyone…”

“It was just a dream, Tucker. You should go back to sleep. You need your rest.”

“Caboose?”

“Go to sleep, Tucker.”

“What about Wash?”

Church paused. Although he was disoriented, the way he asked about Wash, with panic in his voice and his gaze, Church couldn’t bring himself to joke or tease.

“He’s okay. They’re all okay. Now get some rest.”

*****

After the first nightmare, Church kept a careful watch over Tucker trying to help him rest and recover as much as he could.

Church knew Tucker was close to waking up soon. Now that he was back online, being constantly connected to Tucker meant he could tell the second his dreams started to turn into nightmares.

Dreams are strange things. He’d had his own share of nightmares and witnessed dreams that he probably shouldn’t have when paired with Carolina. Whenever Tucker was alone, his subconscious continually kept replaying the moments before his injury. When there were others around telling him stories or simply keeping him company, the images in his mind would change. When visiting hours were over, the lights were out and the medical bay had fallen into silence, Church would sit at the edge of Tucker’s bed, telling him stories. Anything to stop Tucker from reliving that god-awful moment where Felix stabbed him. Church could swear that he felt the blade pierce his skin every time Tucker thought about it. He would retell funny moments from back in Blood Gulch, or tell Tucker about one of the many iterations he went through when trying to set things right and reliving the Parabola of Mystery. He told Tucker about his adventures with Carolina once they’d left the canyon in the jungle and he’d told Tucker some of the crazier stories that Caboose had told him when he was in the Epsilon unit.

A groan stopped him mid-story and his hologram stood up hurriedly, leaning against Tucker’s arm to peer up at him as he turned his head slightly towards the sound of Church’s voice.

“Church? That you?” Tucker’s voice was raspy and soft.

“Yeah, how you doin’ Tucker?”

He groaned again as he opened his eyes, blinking in the gloom. It was still dark, the pale light of the moon barely lighting the space. “I feel like I got run over by Sheila.”

“I don’t know if Grif would like that analogy,” Church said.

“Prob–owww– Probably not.”

“You sure you’re okay? I could get Doctor Grey?” Church hovered over Tucker, quite literally.

“It’s really late… and I’ve felt worse before. Trust me. I gave birth to Junior with Doc being the only medic around. I’ll be okay.”

“Oh yeah, I’d forgotten.”

“Probably because Caboose fucked up the details.”

Church nodded.

“Probably. You should try to get some more rest though. You’ve been out of it for a while, so…”

Tucker tried to move and winced as a shooting pain ripped through him. “How long?”

“Five days. You did wake up a few times during the nights, but I don’t think you really remember.”

“And you’ve been here the whole time?”

“Something had to keep the healing unit going.”

“Doctor Grey is a goddamn genius. I think I’d have managed okay without it once I’d been taken back here.”

Church shrugged, trying to seem nonchalant. “I got sick of sticking around with Carolina. Girls are fucking complicated.”

“So you decided to spend five days with an unconscious dude. Sounds boring as fuck and kinda creepy.”

“Shut up, Tucker. It gave me some time alone to myself for once.”

There was a pause. “Speaking of alone time…” Tucker began.

“Dude, do not even go there.” Of course Tucker would try to make something an innuendo the second he was able to.

“Well I’m conscious now! I have to make up for lost time.”

“No, you fucking don’t. Besides, you’ll pull your stitches out,” Church huffed.

“Then alone time is gonna be well overdue and amazing once they’re out.”

“Jesus fucking Christ, I think I preferred it when you were unconscious.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Tucker said, settling back into his pillows. “I bet you did.”

Moments later, on the verge of sleep, Tucker spoke up, his voice slow and heavy from tiredness.

“Hey, Church?”

“Yeah?”

“Thanks for sticking around.”

There was a gentle fondness in his voice that he usually wouldn’t allow to sneak through, but he was just so glad to know that Tucker was fine that he couldn’t help it. “Don’t mention it.”

*****

When dawn broke, Church quietly appeared at the corner of Tucker’s pillow. With the exception of the first morning that Tucker had been admitted into the medical bay, Washington had always quietly sat by Tucker for a few moments. He always went through that weird, one-sided conversation before sighing sadly and walking out.

Today, Church would stop him. Not because he particularly wanted to be an ass about it but because Wash’s conversation might actually wake Tucker up today and he needed his rest.

When Wash pulled back the curtain at around seven in the morning, he stopped at the sight of Church’s blue hologram standing on the bed.

“Ch-Church? What are you doing here?”

“Keeping Tucker company.”

“You…didn’t go back to Carolina yet?”

“Nope.”

Wash swallowed. “So, you’ve been here the whole time then.”

“Yup,” Church popped the ‘p’ at the end of the word and crossed his arms over his chest.

“I see…”

“So I know your little secret, Washington.”

He seemed to visibly pale at that. “What secret?”

“That you’re hopelessly in love with him.”

“What…how…that’s absurd!” Wash managed to finally get out.

“Dude, I know you’ve seen him naked. You’ve said so every morning this week.”

Wash opened his mouth to say something, but Tucker stirring had made him stop.

“That’s only cause I want him to see me naked,” Tucker said slowly, half-awake. Church and Wash’s conversation had roused him from his sleep.

“Man, what the fuck?” Church asked, turning to look at him.

“Tucker!” Wash whispered furiously. This was not how he had planned his first hello to go.

“What? I don’t try to look this good just for me.”

“You look like shit,” Church said dryly.

“Okay, yeah right now, but normally I’m hot as.”

“As if,” Church scoffed.

“Actually…” Wash interjected, a blush showing on his features, “He _is_ pretty good looking…”

“Told ya,” Tucker grinned.

“I can’t fucking believe you two.”

“You missed a lot while you and Carolina were away,” the way Tucker raised his eyebrows suggested something to Church that he really wished Tucker hadn’t implied.

“Oh, dude that’s gross.”

Tucker laughed for a second before wrapping an arm around his middle and wincing in pain. Wash stepped closer to the bed, concern etched into his features. Tucker waved him off.

“It hurts to laugh,” once the spike of pain subsided, he continued. “You’re just jealous that a hologram can’t get any, Church.”

“For fuck’s sake, Tucker! Stop thinking about it!” Church screeched. “Oh my God, Wash, get me out of here and back to Carolina.”

“You’re sure?”

“Yes!” he screeched as Tucker grinned, intentionally thinking of something particularly intimate. Church didn’t need to know that none of it was true. Not yet, at least. “But, before that…don’t scare me like this ever again, do you hear me, asshole?”

“I don’t plan on it, Church.”

“Good.”

Gently Wash’s fingers caressed the back of Tucker’s neck as he worked the chip out of the neural implants. Once Church’s chip was safely in Washington’s pocket he gave Tucker a soft smile.

“I’m glad to see you’re awake, Tucker.”

“Are you really hopelessly in love with me?”

“Do you really sleep naked just so I can see you?” Wash retorted.   
  
“Do you really think I’m actually good looking?”

Wash raised an eyebrow at him. “Do you think I would keep coming in to your room if I didn’t?”

Tucker grinned and held his arms up slightly in an attempt to gesture Wash closer. “Come here.”

Wash stepped to the edge of the bed.

“Closer.”

Wash leaned over, placing his hands at Tucker’s pillow.

“What is it that you should start telling me every morning?”

Wash chuckled. “For the love of God, don’t stop sleeping naked,” he said as he leaned down to kiss Tucker.


End file.
